Posts Tagged ‘solar water heating’

In an effort to make professional training for the installation of solar water heating (SWH) and photovoltaic (PV) solar systems more accessible to licensed electrical, plumbing, and solar contractors and their employees, Florida Power & Light Company is offering a discount for training classes conducted by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) in Cocoa, Florida.

How it works:
1. Visit www.FPL.com/trainingdiscount and fill out the eligibility form
2. FPL will verify eligibility and send an email with a promotion code
for the discount
3. Visit the FSEC website to register for the course(s) and enter the promotion code to receive the discounted course pricing

An essential part of the workshops are the installation instruction sessions. These concentrate on proper system installation and include roof mounting and sealing of both photovoltaic modules and solar water heating collectors on various Florida roof types. This includes a basic understanding of the design and installation methods used to ensure that modules and collectors are securely mounted. Identification of the various hurricane wind regions in Florida and the maximum wind speed requirements solar panels must withstand in each region.

Students attending the FSEC workshops will receive an “FSEC Certificate of Course Completion” once they successfully complete the course(s). Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board and Electrical Industry Licensing Board continuing education credits are also available for those taking the Photovoltaic System Workshop (18 credits). These are credits that licensed contractors need for renewal of their license.

* In order to be eligible for the discount, class participants must work for a licensed electrical, plumbing or solar contractor doing business in FPL’s service area, provide their valid contractor license number and agree to the terms releasing FPL from any liability. FPL discount available for all Solar Water Heating Systems and Photovoltaic Systems Workshops offered through 2014.

The University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) will now offer a 12-course Webinar series on how to design, build and operate a Zero Energy Home — a home that produces as much energy as it uses.

This series of online courses offers practical education from building science experts with more than 30 years of research and experience. These courses are appropriate for architects, builders, contractors, designers, educators, energy auditors, energy raters, engineers, prospective homebuyers and utility representatives.

During these tough economic times, builders are looking for ways to attract home buyers and the new government administration is concentrating on creating “green jobs.” Zero Energy Homes provide an opportunity to accomplish both and save consumers money while reducing their carbon footprint. These courses will show participants how to maximize energy-efficient design, make the best “green” choices, and optimize performance from solar and home energy management systems.

While gasoline prices have recently dropped, electric costs are skyrocketing! Gasoline for all of the 90s was about $1 a gallon, oil $18 a barrel, natural gas was $2 for a thousand cubic feet and residential electricity in Florida was 8 cents a kWh. Gasoline at its peak last year was over $4, oil over $140 a barrel, and natural gas over $11 for a thousand cubic feet and residential electricity in Florida was 12 cents a kWh. In the last several months, the price of electricity to some consumers in Florida has reached 15 cents per kWh. The average Florida customer who used 1,250 kWh of electricity per month paid $120 in 2005 and $152 per month in 2008. In 2009, the average customer will be paying more than $160. So by doing nothing, the price has gone up more than $40 per month (33%) since 2005. Some customers will be paying $188 per month, a $68 per month increase (50%) since 2005!

Alternative energy is called alternative, until it is cheaper, but cheaper than what? – electricity out of the wall at 12 cents yesterday, 15 cents today, 18 cents tomorrow? Are you aware that people in the U.S. pay different amounts for electricity? The average residential retail price of electricity in the U.S. was 10.6 cents per kWh in 2007. Florida was 11.2 cents, most southern states were about 9 cents, WV 7 cents, UT 8 cents, NY and CT about 18 cents, and CA and NJ 15 cents. So, states that burn coal have the cheapest electricity rates. Places like Utah and West Virginia burn their own coal, so even though they get all the pollution and the greenhouse gasses, at least they get to keep all their money, unlike Florida which ships more than $25 billion out of state to purchase fuel. Florida has already been paying more for cleaner burning fossil fuels than the Southern states to our north. We are now paying more for natural gas than we are for coal, and that price increase is more than what is being suggested to add to our electric bills for solar energy.

New Jersey has more solar than Florida because homeowners in NJ have a Renewable Portfolio Standard, and fees (collected into a Public Benefit Fund) are used to incentivize the homeowner for solar on their roof. If such a fund collected $1.50 on your electric bill in Florida, we could have the equivalent of California’s Million Solar Roofs Program. Clearly $1.50 is less than the $40 a month cost of doing nothing. While solar water heating is cost effective today, solar electricity (photovoltaics) without a subsidy is not cost effective today, but the subsidy is still less than the cost of “accelerated cost recovery” for nuclear power. What about the jobs? These jobs will not be in China and India, they will be done by your neighbor. Vote Solar estimates that more than 3,800 megawatts (MW) of solar could be added by 2020 and with it approximately 85,500 new jobs in Florida. What a great way to love your neighbor.